Plastic horse



July 12, 1960 G. R. THOEMING PLASTIC HORSE Filed Jan. 24, 1957 suspension.

1 I 7 2,944,814 PLASTIC HORSE I George R. Thoeming, Memphis, Tenm, assigiror to Won- 7 der ProductsCompany, Colliei-ville, Ienn;, a corpora tion of Tennessee a Filed'Jan. 24, 1957, Ser. No. 636,136 I, eclaims. (Cl. 272-52 4 v Q The present invention relates to'irnprovemehts inthe structure of a hollow plastic horse or other toy suitable for riding, and more particularly to a construction of the vor other suitable material and is described plastic toy body in such away as to eliminate or reduce tegral tubes extending within the hollow beeypf theto y 15 figure and open atf'their'enjds'. The tubes are of sub} stantiallyuniform diameter, with --'their walls joining the wallsjof the bodyin integral constructioii. The tubes are s moothly flired attheir extreme ends in joining' the outer surfaceof the bodyQwith an innerfilletlf Such 'a structure may be" suitably manufactured bya 'rotatiohal nioldin g of the plasticfvvhereby the thin walled tubes-ere made s'irh'ultaneouslywith the body of the 't'oyj-The eoinpletedtoy is balanced in structure 'and {weight fo r suitg- W able suspension.

dowels-insertedthrough the tubes insri u'g" e'ng'ager'nent witlrtl-ie walls of thetubesto distr'ibute the fvveight of the toy figbreahdlts i ider-in such a mahnerfas th avoid e 11- cent'ratioris of stresses} 1 The {structure is' well adapted for suspension by the connectioh 'bf1springsi to the end bf the dowels and to supporting 'u'prights quadrilaterally w that i s i ab s seeves?! e-I 'den by a child. 1 f

An object er the invention is to'provide n im fevea hollow toy figure suitable for riding by a chlid andhaving improved strength and a longer useful life and providing increased safety for thechild. M

1 'Another ob ect of the invention 'isto provide a hollow toy figure suitable 'for'ridi'ng which is light in weight and which 'is evenly balanced to adapt; it r stable, sp i g A general object of the invention ishto provide ah irriproved toy structuresuitable for riding by "a chlidf Other objects, and advantages will becomeapparent from the'teachings of the principles of the invention in connection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiment presented in the specification, and'from the claims and. appended drawings, infvhichzt I Q A fFigurel is a perspeet ve v ew of a susp embodying the principles of the invention;

5 Figure 2 is a vertical sectionalview taken along 'line -IIII of Fi ui 'if e Figure 3 is an" enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line III-"III of Figure Z; and s Figure 4 is: a somewhat diagrammatic elevational view o f-mechanism forcarrying out the steps in theemethod .of manufacture inaccordance with v. the presentirivention. 'As 'illustratedliri thedrawings, thestructure and the method contemplated by the present invention will be disclosed in connecion with "a toy-figure shoWnfin-jthe ended-{toy gure form of ahorse fIhehorse is an example of one of many animal and other figures that ay be r idden hy "'childf Ihe-hors 6is provided with'aseat 81 e The body 10 of the horse may be formed er a; plastic weight and the weight of the rider.

'and strength are availablejfor the'tubes at ice y Petented July 12, 11960 horse, is molded to provided a'tail 12, a head 14, forelegs 16 and hind legs 18. .Z'Ihe child, may ride thehorse bysitting on the seat or simulated saddle 8; grasping the hand'bar- 20; and resting his feeton'the foot rest bar' 22:

Theweight of the horse 6 and its rideris stably suspended by'springs 24,'26and 28 (the fourth spring being hidden behindthe body "of the horse). f-The inneriends of the springs are suitably connected to,laterallyextencling crossbars or dowels 30 and 32; These dowels extend crosswise through the body of the' horse tov carry 'it's ,qThe outer ends of the springs '24-, 26k and 28 (and the spring hidden behind the horse) :are s'uit'ably'connected to the relatively'rigid uprights 34,36,38a1id 40; These uprightsare'integrally bent up. fromf-abase l-l; which is shown'in the'form of'a pairof tubes or pipes; 44iand46 shaped to come together at their inid len'gths; where they are secured together by any suitable means (not shown);

The tubes are; continuous throughout their respective lengths with the uprights 34'and 40 beingformed at: the

.: en'dslof-the tube 46 and the uprights 36 and 381being formed at the ends of the tube 44; l v As illustrated -'in.;Figur.e 2, 'thetibody of: the horseiis tubular in form and is shaped to provide side walls :50

and 52 merging*into a smoothly-curved top" wall 54', which forms the seat 8 of the 'horsex The;weight of; the rider on the 1 seat 8 .is transferred-downwardly? through the verticalvwalls 50, and 52v to the supporting'tubesf56g ofwhichbnly one is'shown.: ,Each'of the tubesi56 :is arrangedfito extend laterally and horizontallyi acrossthe bodyt10. iof thehorse'between the side' walls 50 and-52: The tubes 56 are formed ofthe same plastic material as the, body 10 :and join the side walls '50 3111152 at their ends 58 "and 60 in' an integral relationship.- Preferably, the tubes are molded at the same time as the body 10. i

The central portion 62 vof the tube 56 is cylindricalin.

shape and of such diameter as to snugly receive the dowel 30:; The'd'owel, or rod 30 is thus in contact with the tube substantially the full length of the tube so that the weightof the rider and body'will be evenly distributed along the tube to the supporting dowel 30. lghe tube56 at its' ends 58 and 60 has its interior diameter enlarged as illustrated at 64 and 68." This enlarged interiof'diameter provides a face gently-flaring outwardly'to'join the outer surface of the body"10 ofthe horse; At the points of enlargement 64 and 68' of the tube, the supporting engageme t between the dowel 30 and the interior of the tube 56 is discontinued and the weightand therefore the stresses, are not localized at the outer surface atthe peint wherethe tube joins the'body', thereby reducing the'possibility "of cold flow of'the plastic or of "erackiiig' the ma terial' of the body at the tube Opening. 5 l 1 The outer ends of the tube 56 are of substantially uniform thickness, but fillets are formed at 66 and where the outersurface of the tube 56joins-the inner surface'of the body 10.f f g Q Q It will be understood that the structure of the forward tube 56 is identical with thetubewhich-recei'yestlie dowel or the rod 32 at the rear of the horse and, therefore, only one need'be described in detail. Additional tubes 9f a e similar-nature may also'be provided to carrythe dowels w en forni the hand bar 20 and the foot res; bat-22 The attributes of beinglli'ght inwei-ght, having these, other locations. i Z 'In themetliod .offnanufacturing the figure of thehoi'se,

there may be used molding apparatus such as illustrated in a diagrammatioform in Figure'4. The molding apparatus, which employs a rotational molding procedure, is suitably supported on a base'70. The apparatus is shown provided'with two molds 72and 74 whereby two of the figures can .be formedat the same time. The molds are carried on cross'rods 76, 78, 80 and 82. The interior of the molds arefitted.with cross-cores which are cylindrical and shaped in accordance with the size desired for the tubes carrying rods 30 and 32.

The molding equipment, shown in Figure 4, is constructed to carry the molds 72 and 74 on a rotating shaft 88. This shaft is turned about its own axis by bevel gear 90 driven 'bya bevel gear 92 carried on a stationary shaft 94. The shaft 88 is supported in a yoke 96 which rotates about the axis of the shaft 94- while the shaft 94.is:held stationary; This causes a rotation of the molds 72 and 74 about the axis of the shaft 88 and simultaneously about the axis of the shaft 94. The yoke 96 is carried by the tube 98 which ooaxially houses the fixed shaft 94 and which is supported on pillow blocks 100 and 102 mounted on the base 70. The hollow tube 98 is suitably driven by a sprocket 104.

The molds 72 and 74 with the rods 76, 78, 80 and 82 in place, are filled with a measured amount of plastic in the first step of forming 'the structure. The mold is then rotated in a compound manner, such as about the two axes shown, and at the same time is heated by means not shown. The plastic, when flowable, is thus caused to flow over the interior surface of the mold by centrifugal force to form an even layer or film on said surface; The'fil-m also forms as a uniform layer around the core rods within the molds to complete the tubes for rods 30 and 32, and 20 and 22, that are to extend across the body of the figure.

Heating of the mold is continued until the plastic reaches the proper temperature for smooth flowability in accordance with the plastic used. The mold is then cooled and opened and the finished article removed by separation of the sections of the mold and withdrawal of the core rods forming the tubes, thereby making the mold ready for the nextcycle. Thus, in one operation the completed figure and the crossbar supporting tubes have been formed into an integral structure of optimum strength.

The method affords an improved product. Accurate control of the product weight is important since it must be related to the strength of the product and to'the strength of the springs andother factors. Control of the product weight is possible because a precisely measured quantity of material can be placed in each mold cavity. The use of the described molding equipment requires a minimum-of floor space and the operation is cleaner and conducive to closer control of variables. Scrap and rejects are kept to a minimum and figures of intricate and attractive design can be readily molded using the supporting tube structures extending across the hollow body.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided a structure and method of manufacture .for hollow toy figures, which are adapted to be supported on suspending springs in a stable manner in order to be ridden, which meets the objectives and advantages hereinbefore set forth. The construction achieves a toy of'optimum strength and safety which is well suited for use in the type of toy illustrated in the preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

I have, in the drawings and specification presented a detailed disclosure of the preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is to be understood that I do not intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modifications, changes and alternative constructions and methods falling within the scope of the principles taught .by my invention.

I claim as my invention: I

"1. In a spring suspended toy to :be ridden-by :a child and particularly adapted to be stably suspended by springs connected to supporting uprights, a toy figure having a hollow plastic body forming a seat whereby said body may be straddled and ridden by a child, a first tube extending laterally across the interior of the hollow plastic body to join the body walls in integral relationship therewith and form a substantially rigid support therefor to transfer and distribute the weight :uniformly from the walls of the body to the tube, a second similar tube extending across the plastic body spaced horizontally from the first to form an additional substantially rigid support for the body, and rod-s extending through .said tubes and projecting therefrom for connection at their ends to said spring so that the body is supported and the Weight of the body and rider 'aretransferredto the supporting rods and suspending springs.

2. A spring suspended toy resembling ananimal to be ridden by a child and adapted to be resiliently suspended and carried by springs connected between the toy and supporting uprights, the toy comprising a toy figure formed of a lightweight plastic and having a hollow body with rounded walls extending downwardly from a seat formed in the upper portion of the body whereby the toy may be straddled and ridden by a child, a hollow cylindrical weight distributing tube extending across the interior of the body and integrally joining the body walls, said tube having its outer ends adjacent'the surface of the body of enlarged diameter to form a curved surface whereby uniform surface distribution and transferral of weight is enhanced, said tube being formed with a substantially'uniform wallthickness and the outer ends joining the interior of the body wall with a fillet providing an even distribution of stress. to the interior surface of the body, and a body supporting rod projecting through the tube in snug relationship therewith and adapted for securement to the endsof the suspending springs whereby the body is resiliently supported and the weight of thebody and a rider is uniformly transferred through said rods to the suspending springs.

3. A resiliently suspended toyadapted to .be ridden by -a child, comprising a toy figure of a lightweight hollow construction with walls forming a seat for a child at thetop and curving downwardly to form a body of generally tubular form with the seat substantially rigidly supported on the body, integral open-ended supporting tubes extending interiorly across the hollow body and joining the side walls, supporting rods snugly received in said tubes and projecting beyond the exterior wall of the body, supporting springs connected to and extending substantially horizontally from theends of the supporting rods, upright members connected to the free ends of said springs, and a base for fixedly supporting the uprights in spaced relationship to suspend the body in a stable manner and support arider on the seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Patent file of Kallus .Patent No. 2,728,947, issued January 3, 1956. 

